SICB Symposium: Taking Physiology to the Field: Advances in Investigating Physiological Function in Free-Living Vertebrates, to be held January 3-7, 2001, Chicago, IL

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Over the past decades, comparative and ecological physiologists have succeeded in describing numerous marvelous ways in which organisms from a variety of habitats are specialized for life in those habitats. However, the great majority of these investigations have been performed in the laboratory, where animals and their environments are under control and manipulable. An important direction in which comparative and ecological physiology is now proceeding is to explore physiological function under natural conditions and with ecological context in mind. Toward that end, the PIs have assembled a panel of speakers who are pushing forward the ability to measure and interpret physiological function of free-living animals. These speakers will focus on vertebrate animals and will approach this topic from several directions. First, they will address a variety of physiological systems; presentations will focus on energy, body condition, temperature regulation, digestion and metabolism, osmoregulation, reproduction, stress, and others. Second, they will explore a variety of methodological approaches; presentations will focus on endocrinology, telemetry, stable isotopes, phenotypic engineering, immune testing, evaluation of tissue and body fluid composition, and more. Third, they will discuss a variety of vertebrate types; authors will speak on migratory birds, marine mammals, nectarivores, and others. This symposium will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (Chicago, IL, January 2001).Together, it is anticipated that these presentations will provide an overview of conceptual and methodological advances in the investigation of physiological systems under natural conditions with a view to answering questions of ecological importance. In the process, they will continue to enhance our appreciation of how animals survive under varied and stressful circumstances. Moreover, they will help to provide insights into ecological questions such as what limits the distributions of animals on Earth, and how this might be affected by patterns of environmental change.